1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic system for processing dermatoglyphic information to perform identification and/or verification of the claimed identity of the individual from whom the information is received. In a broader scope, the present invention relates to pattern comparison and identification techniques.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been a long felt need by law enforcement agencies, industrial security departments and commercial business establishments, among others, for a reliable and efficient system that automatically identifies and/or vertifies the identity of individuals according to dermatoglyphic information. While many attempts have been made in the prior art to devise such a system, most systems have had to rely upon manual operations for detecting and describing minutiae, orienting the pattern with respect to a reference, counting ridges and determining the classification of the pattern. Because of the length of time and high costs incurred by having an operator perform the manual identification functions, the prior art techniques have been impractical where requirements such as high speed identification and low cost per individual identified are desired.